Introducing the Jericho-Revelation Hypothesis
O
ccasionally I am asked what my favorite book of the Bible is, or my favorite verse. It is too hard for me to choose a favorite, but I will tell you that threads excite me more than just about anything. Threads? Like the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread used on the tabernacle and the priests’ clothing? I love bright, colorful threads, but no. What I mean is certain concepts woven into Scripture in multiple places. I have covered several threads already (in Betrayal on the Mount of Olives, Rejection of the King, By the Aqueduct, and in the video, Why Did Jesus Have to Die?). The Scriptures came to us from the pens of about 40 men through a period of about 1550 years. The reason threads delight me so much is because they glorify the Holy Spirit as the true author of Scripture. Only He could put it all together, and enable us to recognize it. Is there a thread from the Battle of Jericho to the Tribulation? I believe so! I will explain, and you can prayerfully see what you think.
When I Saw It
It was about the first week of December, 2011. I opened my Bible and the pages fell to Joshua 5 and 6. There was a coffee mark on that page, making it more likely to open there (and this happened frequently). The stain used to disappoint me, until that day.
I love the account of the battle of Jericho, so I decided to read that section first, before moving on to whatever I had planned to read that day. I began reading in Joshua 5:13, where Joshua, near Jericho, suddenly meets the Commander of the Army of the LORD, who stands with sword drawn. Joshua falls on his face to worship Him, and is not rebuked, so we know it is the LORD. Joshua is asked to remove his sandals, like Moses at the burning bush, because he stands on holy ground. He obeys. In chapter 6, the Commander speaks again. This time, it simply says, “And the LORD said to Joshua…” Then He unfurls what humanly sounds like one of the strangest battle plans in the history of the planet! I doubt they study this in the war colleges!
I was amazed and humbled that the LORD would uncover such a gem to me. Could this be? Then immediately, I was attacked in my spirit. A deep longing washed over me. “Is this an arrow from the enemy?” I wondered. It was my last wise thought for a while. I did not take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. Instead, I gave them a home in my heart, where they grew and lodged for the better part of the next year. I should have been on my face, glorifying the Lord and searching His Word for more treasures. Instead, I was held up by a distraction. A selfish attitude of discontentment grew, which poorly affected my relationship with God. One day, He woke me up to the reality. I was ashamed, and repented. Just like that, the flaming dart was extinguished, and my heart was healed. As quickly as the longing came upon me, it disappeared, never to return.
Pressing the “Each Seal is a Year” Hypothesis
We know there are seven seals, and when the seventh seal is opened, seven trumpets. Revelation does not tell us each seal is a year, or that the seals represent equal amounts of time, so I would classify this as a theory. However, I also believe it makes a lot of sense, just from a straightforward look at Revelation 6 and 8:1-2. There are several matters I believe lend strength to this theory:
First and Second Time
Daniel 11:21-45 is about the last king of north—the one who eventually stops the sacrifices, places the abomination of desolation, exalts himself above all, and annihilates many—until he comes to his end. Verses 21-24 speak of the first time of the king of the north, in contrast to the next, when he begins to make war. A “time” in Daniel is a year. (I explain this in How Long is the Tribulation?). The first seal of Revelation implies conquest (Revelation 6:1-2), but in a way that is distinguished from the days of the second seal, when peace is taken from the earth and men kill each other (Revelation 6:3-4). Thus, I believe the first seal is suggested to be a false peace. So, I believe the first seal may correspond to the first time (year) of this king of the north, and the second seal to his second time.
The Sixth Seal Signs Precede the Day of the LORD
In the sixth seal, the sun becomes black, and the moon like blood (see Revelation 6:12-14). Now the wicked hide in the rocks of the ground, seeking their own deaths. They cry out to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” The same heavenly signs are prophesied in Joel chapter 2 as signs preceding the day of the LORD. I believe they want to die because they know the Lamb’s wrath is imminent.
Joel 2:30-32 (NKJV)
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
32 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the LORD has said,
Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Since Joel says the sun and moon going dark precede the day of the LORD, and since these things happen in the sixth seal, the day of the LORD should be the seventh seal.
The Day of the LORD is a Year
Isaiah 34:8 says the day of the LORD is a year of recompense.
Isaiah 34:8 (NKJV)
For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
So, it follows that the day of the LORD is the seventh seal, and the day of the LORD is a year. If true, that would make the seventh seal a year.
Other Connections from Jericho to the Tribulation?
As I have thought about this over the years, I see other potential links between the Battle of Jericho and the Tribulation.
The First and the Last Battle to Possess the Covenant Land
The Battle of Jericho was the first battle the children of Israel faced after crossing the Jordan River and entering the covenant land of Canaan, which God had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Tribulation is essentially is the last battle, after which Jesus will take full possession of the land of Israel, in order to reign as King over the whole earth (Zechariah 14:9, Isaiah 24:23). This will fulfill what Jacob first prophesied in Genesis 49, and many other places:
Genesis 49:10 (NKJV)
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.Luke 1:32-33 (NKJV)
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
While speaking of His coming, Isaiah 27:12 says the LORD will thresh from the wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates—the same borders He promised to give Abraham’s descendants in Genesis 15:18.
He will also receive praise from Israel for increasing the borders of the land:
Isaiah 26:15 (NKJV)
You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders of the land.
Though the children of Israel carried out the battle of Jericho, it was the Divine Commander (God) Who set the plans, and God who made Jericho’s walls to fall. Certainly, God is in complete control of the seals and trumpets. I am reminded of Jesus’s statement in Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last” (Revelation 1:11). (Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.)
Trumpet, A Great Shout, Collapse
The LORD instructed Joshua concerning the seventh day:
Joshua 6:4-5 (NKJV)
”But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”
As you know, Israel followed the LORD’s battle plans. At the long blast of the trumpet, the people let out a loud shout, and at that moment, the walls of Jericho collapsed—except the portion of the wall that contained Rahab the prostitute’s house, who feared the LORD and helped the Hebrew spies.
At Jesus’ coming, there will be a great trumpet and a shout. It will be at the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52), that is, the seventh trumpet of Revelation (Revelation 11:15-19), when Jesus becomes King over the whole earth. There will be a great earthquake, and great hail will drop from the skies to crush the Lord’s enemies. But those who take shelter under the shadow of His wing will be shielded from the plagues that befall the wicked (Psalm 91).
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NKJV)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.Revelation 16:17-21 (NKJV)
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
A Reasonable Theory?
I think the Jericho Battle Plan theory of Revelation’s timeline is logically clean and reasonable. What about you? I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments.
God bless you.
